Categories!

Remember the category clapping games from your childhood?  Category games are still relevant! From infancy our brains are busy building the effective interconnected semantic networks that are critical for memory and learning. You could say our brains seek patterns and connections naturally. In Montessori poetry, chants, word games, and word play, make classification and categorizing fun!

Start with matching

and labeling.

Then sort living/non-living

as well as plant/animal cards.

Sorting and matching games are engaging.

Sort by sound

or color

or word.

Classification is an important skill!

What attribute? Is it thick or thin?

Which continent?

Games help build connections called semantic webs.

Does this animal live in Africa or North America?

They expand and clarify vocabulary

and enrich writing with descriptors.

They make the recalling of facts and ideas more accessible and applicable.

Games help encourage critical thinking by focusing on essential features. Can you guess what's in our Question Bag by using "important questions" such as Is it non-living? Does it have wheels? Do you use it in the kitchen?

Venn Diagrams make comparing and contrasting visual. How are these two folktales alike? different? How are frogs and toads alike/different? What else can we compare--artist styles, books by the same author? foods? Category and classification skills help build understanding by introducing organization, complexity, and relevance. Thinking can be done slowly and carefully--many close encounters with new ideas!

"The child brings us great hope and a new vision. There is much we can do to bring humanity to a deeper understanding, to a higher well-being, and to a greater spirituality."--Montessori


"Children grow into the intellectual life around them."  --Vygotsky